Lankast War
This conflict between the ASH and Technocratic Commonwealth redefined the scale of warfare. Even though the Commonwealth ended up having to cede the city of Lankast and their only coastal territory on the ocean, the victory was hollow for the Autocracy. Three Frontier Legions and a huge amount of men and materiel from the ASH peninsula were needed to secure what was considered relatively modest gains. The subsequent development of tactics ended up changing the Autocracy’s approach to warfare. They were no longer subjugating small kingdoms or putting down revolts, the new wars would be more similar to the Deluge. The pressures of the war forced both sides to evolve their strategies to use these destructive weapons more effectively. The opening months of the war were a complete massacre for the ASH-aligned Legions. Air support ended up stabilizing the front but winning any battle in close order on open ground was impossible. Their call for support ended up escalating the lost battle into a war. Nearby Frontier Legions responded in exchange for a share of the spoils. The 4th suffered a defeat immediately upon entering the conflict. Commonwealth princes caught wind of the 4th’s movement and unleashed hordes of Deviants after using their powers to annihilate Legionaries caught in the open. ASH aligned Legions knew they would be on the backfoot against such abilities. Their operational strategy of numbers and coordination to outmaneuver the opponent weren’t enough when conducting a full scale invasion. The Frontier Legions were too used to piecemeal incursions in smaller regions. Calls for aid were ignored by the Autocrat in the beginning, not wanting to respond to what seemed like a simple Frontier dispute. As the ASH observers submitted their reports and Frontier Legion emissaries brought increasingly dire news, a full scale mobilization was called in the peninsula. Two years of blood and struggle finally brought the war to an end. The Commonwealth's only port fell to the invaders after a grueling siege. With two Commonwealth armies surrounded by the brilliant maneuvers of the 1st Legion Field Marshall Roland Depaix, the Technocratic Commonwealth requested peace terms. A Troubled Peace The peace terms offered were far from the original objectives of the ASH. Despite clear field victories, the Autocracy could not continue to absorb the casualties caused by the Cursed princes of the Commonwealth and the clever strategies of their mundane generals. The Commonwealth was bloodied but not broken. Lankast was taken by the ASH Frontier Legions, securing the coastal waterways once and for all. The Technocracy retreated to lick their wounds. The new territories were hotbeds of resentment against their "liberators". Unrest in the peninsula over the mobilization was too much to maintain, especially as aberrant events and Cursed reversions began to eat away at available manpower. The generals of the Technocratic Commonwealth can sense the underlying discord in the Autocracy. They are already preparing for the next war as the ASH is weakened by a thousand different internal problems. Strategic Evolution The most important evolution in military theory from the Lankast war was the idea of ‘mission tactics’. A centralized command was the backbone of victory on an even field. The Lankast war was anything but an even field. Ever more powerful Cursed, large numbers of Deviants, and fleets of airship forced new methods of approaching conflict for both sides to counter the new pressures of modern war. The Commonwealth’s mundane human generals were able to use defensive strategies that utilized the princes’ Cursed abilities to devastating effect.